


Chance Upon

by senbazuru



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-27 22:07:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16710928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senbazuru/pseuds/senbazuru
Summary: “Kirkland?!”And Alfred watched in astonishment as the slim man in the fitted grey trench coat hesitated slightly, before abruptly stopping in his tracks.





	Chance Upon

 

 

 

 

“Kirkland?!”

 

And Alfred watched in astonishment as the slim man in the fitted grey trench coat hesitated slightly, before abruptly stopping in his tracks.

 

“Arthur Kirkland?” he tried again, and this time the other man turned in his direction, a puzzled expression on his face ashis green eyes found their focus. “Hey” Alfred smiled, tipping his head a fraction to the side and motioning a little wave with his hand.

 

“Oh” Arthur mumbled, before pulling the headphones from his ears and absently tucking them into his collar. “Um... yes?”

 

“Arthur, it’s me” Alfred chuckled, still a little blown away “Alfred Jones? From high school?”

 

“Jones...” and Alfred could pinpoint the moment that it clicked “Oh. Right, Alfred Jones. Hello there” he greeted awkwardly.

 

“Hi,” Alfred smiled “it’s been a while huh? How’s things?”

 

“Yeah, I’m alright. Um, and you?” He added politely, almost hesitantly.

 

“I’m doing great. But wow, it’s just so weird seeing you here” he gestured to the tall bookshelves that hemmed them in on either side “I guess you always did like to read, but I never woulda pegged you as a comic book nerd.”

 

“I uh...”

 

“Hey, no I didn’t mean anything by it” Alfred waved his hands as he backtracked “hell, I’m pretty much the king of nerds when it comes to Marvel. But DC’s pretty cool too I guess” he gestured playfully towards the newest edition of Batman that Arthur was holding against his chest.

 

“Actually, this is for my little brother.”

 

“Oh” Alfred faltered, subtly adjusting his jacket to hide the stylised Captain America shield emblazoned across his shirt.

 

“Yes, I don’t really know what I’m doing to be quite honest” Arthur muttered, examining his choice with a sceptical eye.

 

“Oh!” Alfred brightened again “well I can help you with that, no problem. We’ll have something picked out for him in no time” he rubbed his hands together, and Alfred had to grin at the obvious shock that Arthur displayed as his head snapped up so he could stare at him.

 

“Why would you do that?” and his question held a curious edge that Alfred couldn’t quite discern.

 

“Well, not to brag but I’m kind of an expert” he leaned his elbow against the bookshelf in what he hoped was a nonchalant pose, the effect only ruined slightly when he had to move to let someone pass. “Anyway, I don’t mind helping out my ol’ friend Artie.”

 

“Friend?” Arthur spoke flatly as his fingers visibly clenched, the plastic cover of the comic book crinkling in a frankly alarming show of neglect.

 

“Yeah” Alfred looked up to find Arthur eyeing him incredulously “I mean, okay I know we’ve not seen each other in... like what? Eight? Nine years? But we were buddies back in high school so-“

 

“Perhaps you took a few too many American footballs to the head Jones, but we weren’t exactly mates” and the harshness with which his words were spoken genuinely took Alfred aback.

 

“Wait, what?” and he couldn’t help that kicked puppy tone.

 

Arthur studied him suspiciously for several moments, the tension slowly seeping out of his posture until he let his arms drop to his sides with an exhale, his eyes then rolling up towards the ceiling in a silent appeal for strength.

 

“Look, I know it was all rather a long time ago” Arthur’s line of sight briefly shifted to watch an employee as they restocked the shelves a few feet away, “but I’m sure you can appreciate how difficult it might’ve been for me to move on from that kind of thing” and Arthur fixed him with such a gentle, almost imploring look that Alfred got the distinct impression he was trying to simplify matters just for him. Ironic then, that he still hadn’t the slightest idea what he was getting at.

 

“Kind of thing?” He questioned dumbly.

 

“Alfred,” and now Arthur looked a little frustrated “you pretty much made those two years of high school unbearable for me.”

 

“What? I did?” Alfred practically squeaked “what do you mean? We were friends-“

 

“Oh come off it Alfred” he scoffed, before seeming to notice his scandalised expression “you really didn’t know?” And now they were both just as equally stunned.

 

“But... we were good?” Alfred stammered in confusion.

 

“From the moment I transferred, you made it your mission to antagonise me” his hands were on his hips, and now Alfred didn’t even care that the poor mistreated comic book that Arthur still held was almost folded in half.

 

“That was what we did” Alfred defended “we bantered and teased each other. It was all just for fun.”

 

“It wasn’t fun for me” Arthur grumbled, his arms folding back over his chest “imagine what it was like; starting a new school - in a new country - halfway through the year, and the captain of the bloody football team takes it upon himself to single you out on an almost daily basis.”

 

“I...”

 

“You made fun of my accent and my clothes. You took the piss out of me for wanting to play _soccer_. And Christ, I only had to so much as mention words like vitamin or leisure and you’d totally lose your shit.”

 

Arthur’s line of sight was focused distantly at the ground, his scruffy blond fringe now falling over his eyes, and even as the creeping guilt set in Alfred couldn’t help but muse that Arthur hadn’t really changed that much since school.

 

“You couldn’t let it go when I came out” he uttered bitterly.

 

“Shit, Arthur. Seriously I had no idea you felt like that. I’m so sorry. I just thought we were joking around, I honestly never meant to make you unhappy. Especially over something like...” and now it was Alfred’s turn to seem uncomfortable. “Actually,” he stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets “I may have had a little crush on you.”

 

 _“Are you fucking kidding me!?”_ and Arthur’s voice was loud, too loud for a place like this at least. Alfred could practically sense the ripple of intrigue that circulated amongst the nearest patrons.

 

“No?” Alfred answered feebly, his own voice a little hushed, perhaps hoping that Arthur would follow suit.

 

“Oh my god, you - you were basically pulling my pigtails...”

 

“My bad” Alfred smiled, and yes he still felt regretful, but watching as Arthur visibly put two and two together was kind of entertaining.

 

“But you were going out with that cheerleader girl, and you were so...” Arthur’s brow furrowed “you were so relentless on the subject of me being gay.”

 

“Yeah well” he shrugged sheepishly “I guess I liked guys as well. But I _was_ the captain of the football team, and I hadn’t really figured myself out just yet. I was always kinda envious of you for that” he let out a sigh. “It’s not an excuse for making you feel bad - because that’s definitely all on me - but that’s probably why I liked to tease you so much. That and you were hot. Still are hot” Alfred chanced a flirtatious smirk.

 

“Hey!” Arthur straightened his back in umbrage, but the flush that began to heat up his cheekbones diminished the impact somewhat “you can’t just h-hit on me Jones.”

 

“Why not Kirkland, are you seeing someone?” and okay, Alfred was starting to remember why teasing Arthur had always been so much fun.

 

Arthur cleared his throat, covering his mouth with his fist as he surveyed the store in embarrassment.

 

“I’m not” he spoke softly, his gaze returning to Alfred before shyly glancing away again. “But it’s been a very long time since high school Alfred, we barely know each other anymore.”

 

“Well let’s fix that” Alfred moved closer, slowly reaching out to take the disheveled comic book from Arthur’s hand “first off, I’ll help you pick something out. This version of Batman is pretty dark to be honest, so if it’s for a present we might wanna start with something a bit more upbeat” he smiled, just then noticing how long Arthur’s eyelashes were.

 

“Thanks” Arthur bit his bottom lip, and then caught Alfred watching him.

 

“Maybe,” Alfred suggested breezily, as he ushered them towards a different set of shelves “maybe I could buy you dinner. To make up for all those times I was a dick to you.”

 

Arthur looked back over his shoulder, his eyes scanning up Alfred’s body and coming to a stop at the hopeful expression on his face.

 

“Maybe” he allowed himself a smile.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Another stupid Drabble. Have you ever tried starting a fire by rubbing two sticks together? This is me attempting to send a spark of inspiration over onto the big ol’ pile of kindling that is my current wip. Somebody fetch me some marshmallows.


End file.
